Quebec premier considers revival of controversial tunnel following major byelection loss

Premier François Legault is reconsidering his decision to backtrack on a major campaign promise following the CAQ's defeat in a byelection Monday night. 

Premier François Legault is reconsidering his decision to backtrack on a major campaign promise following the CAQ’s defeat in a byelection Monday night.

The party lost its seat in the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon to the Parti Québécois, with the former getting just over 21 per cent of the vote.

At the heart of the issue, Legault believes, is his government’s decision last spring to remove the highway portion of the long-anticipated Third Link tunnel connecting Quebec City to its South Shore, making it exclusive to public transit.

“I think that a government has to respect and listen to the population so maybe we didn’t do that enough in Quebec City,” Legault told reporters at the national assembly Tuesday. “I want to put everything on the table to make sure we do a better job for them.”

Legault says his government will be consulting with Quebec City-area residents to see where they stand on the Third Link tunnel decision. He says he’s open to potentially reviving the project, despite environmental concerns and studies that suggested there was no longer a need for it.

Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, says this latest decision could do the premier more harm than good.

“I’m not sure that another flip-flop in that file will actually help them that much,” Béland said. “I suppose they want to show they want to listen to the people, but in that specific riding, the Third Link was not that big an issue, actually. So, it’s more about the trust people have in the government in general.”

Béland said reopening the door to the Third Link could actually draw more criticism from voters outside the Quebec City region instead.